‘No reason to meet': Kim Jong Un's sister rejects outreach by South Korea, dims hope for resuming diplomacy. But why?
Her remarks suggest that North Korea, currently focused on deepening ties with Russia, sees little value in returning to talks with Seoul or Washington shortly. Analysts believe her comments are aimed at sowing discord between South Korea and the United States, AP reported.
'We clarify once again the official stand that no matter what policy is adopted and whatever proposal is made in Seoul, we have no interest in it and there is neither a reason to meet nor an issue to be discussed,' Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media.
It's North Korea's first official statement on the government of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, which took office in early June with a promise to improve badly frayed ties with North Korea.
Lee's government has halted anti-Pyongyang frontline loudspeaker broadcasts, taken steps to ban activists from flying balloons with propaganda leaflets across the border and repatriated North Koreans who were drifted south in wooden boats months earlier.
North Korea has shunned talks with South Korea and the U.S. since leader Kim Jong Un's high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with President Donald Trump fell apart in 2019 due to wrangling over international sanctions. North Korea has since focused on building more powerful nuclear weapons targeting its rivals and declared a hostile 'two-state' system on the Korean Peninsula to terminate relations with South Korea.
Kim Yo Jong called Lee's steps 'sincere efforts' to develop ties, but said the new government still 'stands in confrontation' with North Korea. She mentioned the upcoming summertime South Korea-U.S. military drills, which North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.
South Korea's Unification Ministry responded that it will steadfastly seek reconciliation with North Korea to realise peaceful co-existence. Spokesperson Koo Byoungsam told reporters that the statement shows North Korea closely monitors the Lee government's North Korea policy despite deep mistrust.
Moon Seong Mook, an analyst for the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, said Kim Yo Jong's statement shows North Korea is holding out for South Korea to abandon the U.S. alliance.
Moon said that Kim likely sees little upside in engaging with the South since it cannot restart economic projects that previously benefited the North as long as international sanctions remain in place.
North Korea has deepened its cooperation with Russia, reportedly sending troops and conventional weapons to support the war in Ukraine, likely in exchange for economic and technological aid.
Since starting his second term in January, Donald Trump has frequently touted his personal relationship with Kim Jong Un, expressing a desire to revive diplomatic talks. However, Pyongyang has yet to publicly respond to his overtures.
According to Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Kim Yo Jong's recent statement was primarily intended for a domestic audience.
'Kim Yo Jong's comments are an effort to advance national pride by portraying North Korea in a superior position, despite its economic struggles and international pariah status,' Easley said. 'She also seeks to justify Pyongyang's weapons programs and divide Seoul and Washington by criticising upcoming military exercises.'
Still, there is a limit on what North Korea can get from Russia, and Pyongyang could change course at a major upcoming meeting of the ruling Workers' Party, likely to be held in January, said Kwak Gil Sup, the head of One Korea Center, a website specialising in North Korea affairs.
We have no interest in it and there is neither a reason to meet nor an issue to be discussed.
"I think North Korea may formulate a Plan B and Plan C in relations for South Korea and the U.S.,' Kwak said.
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India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
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On July 16, six protesters, including 25-year-old student Abu Sayed, were killed by police firing."For the Hasina government, after July 17, it was all about crushing the movement. People retaliated, and then the regime started killing people indiscriminately," says Salam, who has been living in Australia in a self-imposed exile for a image of Abu Sayed inviting bullets with open arms went on to define the protests. Videos of brutal attacks and killings of protesters unnerved all sections of Bangladeshi society."Urban guerilla tactics work by creating victims, and fighting the war around them," says the political commentator from tried to buy peace by promising a probe, but the situation had spiralled out of control. On August 3, the Students Against Discrimination came out with a single-point demand -- Sheikh Hasina's organic protests do not last beyond days without support from established political or civil structures. That the students-led agitation and the students themselves survived and fought for weeks pointed at the role of political parties and the military in the fall of Hasina. A student of English literature, Abu Sayed defiantly stood with a stick in his hand before he was shot and killed at close range by the police. (Image: Social Media) advertisementMASTANS OF BNP, JAMAAT PROVIDED STREET MUSCLEPolitical parties like the BNP and the Jamaat, facing political suppression, had been emaciated. Such was the situation, that the Jamaat didn't manage to even unlock its sealed office in Dhaka over the students' protest gave the parties the much-needed oxygen, and they used the students' agitation to launch a full-scale attack on the Hasina apparatus."After July 19, police were attacked not by university students, but by BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami activists and daily-waged labourers who had joined in the protests by then," Salam tells India Today evidence of that, the activist points to a video of protesters chasing away a team of security personnel in five vans, which went viral."You can see one person starts running at the police, and then a crowd follows him and starts chasing the cops. The person who first started chasing the cops was later identified as a BNP member. This was the case in most instances. Those leading the attacks against cops were either BNP or Jamaat members or daily-waged labourers," says says among all the political parties, the BNP counts the highest number of dead activists during the July-August agitation for a reason."Parties like the BNP had seasoned leadership who were battle-hardened and knew how to survive and fight government machinery. The young student leaders brought political innocence into the play and attracted the masses, and the BNP and the Jamaat provided street credibility and muscle," Rabbee tells India Today political parties like the BNP also arranged physical safety and safe houses for the student leaders when they were on the says the Hasina government, which had dealt with online activists, was spooked by two things -- shut down of remittances by Bangladeshi expats and attacks on police stations."People attacking the cops was an escalation that showed that the movement was in the next phase. The retaliation was evidence that the fear of the Hasina regime was gone, and it could be toppled," explains goes on to show that it wasn't the students who were mostly involved in the street warfare was that the worst violence took place after Hasina fled Bangladesh on August 5. There were political reprisal killings in which scores of Awami League and Chhatra League leaders were massacred."Members of Islamist organisations and Jamaat members were at the forefront when it came to attacking cops and Awami League leaders. They followed urban guerilla tactics to bring down the Hasina government, and exact revenge after that," said the Dhaka-based had descended into lawlessness and chaos for days after the fall of the Hasina regime, and the army had to step in. Following Hasina's flight, the Bangladeshi army took control, and oversaw the transition of power amidst the chaos. (AFP Image) BANGLADESH ARMY'S NOT TO SHOOT DECISION WAS GAMECHANGERWaker-Uz-Zaman was appointed Bangladesh Army Chief in June 2024, when the country was already a relative of Hasina, operated with fairness during the entire agitation, according to multiple then, protests had even started in Defence Officers Housing Society areas in Dhaka. This was unprecedented because military officers were pampered by Hasina and their children brought up in relative affluence."Hasina not only took care of the military with unprecedented largesse, but she also changed the Constitution to deter political intervention by the military, making it a crime of high treason," says lower-rung officers and sepoys, like some of the civilian officials, had by then gone into a civil-disobedience mode. That was a result of news of young relatives falling prey to bullets, sources told India Today August 4, with the Hasina government finding itself embattled with millions ready for the long March to Dhaka a day later, a shoot-at-sight curfew was in a meeting with the top Army commanders on August 4, decided that his force would not shoot at protesters. This, and the reports of military officers unwilling to act against protesters earlier, boosted the confidence of the of thousands started pouring into Dhaka at daybreak on August 5. That is when General Zaman visited Hasina and asked her to board the military helicopter and save her life."Ultimately the military had to force her collapse, mostly because the sheer number of people on Dhaka's streets with bricks and sticks were simply multiple folds of the count of ammunition the security establishment had at their disposal," says only did the army take a hands-off approach, some lower-ranking military personnel were also looking at options to bring down the regime if Hasina lasted beyond August 5."A military official told me he considered resigning and arming civilians for urban guerrilla warfare if Hasina had not fled on August 5," says activist-writer Salam, adding, "This tells you this was a civil war situation." Students chanted anti-Hasina slogans near Dhaka University after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee. (AFP Image) HASINA'S BANGLADESH EXIT NOT JUST DUE TO STUDENTS AGITATIONThough students were the ones who started the fire, but it became an inferno because political parties and Islamist organisations added their muscle to the in morgue and those injured reveal the extent to which political and religious outfits participated in the street cheers that greeted the army and personnel flashing the victory sign also reveal that the military ensured a transfer of power in what can be interpreted as a coup-de-lite, albeit in the face of a massive people's movement."Hasina's regime collapsed because, towards the end, it became fashionable for all segments of Bangladeshi society to resist her, which includes laypersons, the political class, the military and even her cronies, who, towards the end, played their cards in such a way that the regime collapsed," sums up Rabbee.- EndsMust Watch
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Rupee falls 16 paise to close at 87.82 against U.S. dollar
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Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Throwback Tuesday: Lee Jae-myung recalls hilarious throwback to first-ever reality show
President Lee Jae-myung and First Lady Kim Hye-kyung appear on a TV show in 2017. Imagine flipping through old family videos and stumbling upon a gem where your awkward younger self predicts the future - that's what happened on the 400th episode of SBS's 'Dong Sang Imong 2 - You Are My Destiny' aired on August 4, 2025. The show, starting July 10, 2017, celebrated by replaying its first episode featuring then-Seongnam mayor Lee Jae-myung and wife Kim Hye-kyung . Eight years later, with Lee as South Korea's President, the clip shows life's funny plot twists, with viewers laughing at their tense, innocent moments on set. Awkward Vibes and Presidential Predictions A fresh-faced Lee Jae-myung entered the studio nervously, "This is my first variety show, worried if I can pull it off," he said with a grin. Host Kim Sook exclaimed, "We've got valuable footage!" The highlight? Lee's joke saying, "If I became president, you wouldn't have invited me - assuming I wouldn't make it!" Now president, this ironic clip is gold, plus they shared personal stories like his vasectomy, adding to the charm. From Mayor to Mainstream Icon In 2017, as 'Destiny Couple No. 1', shared real married life glimpses. The show boasts strong viewership - Nielsen Korea reports similar reality shows average 5-7% ratings. By 2025, it highlights their evolution, proving even presidents start hilariously human. Why This Clip Matters Seeing Lee embrace his goofy past humanises politics, emphasizing shared laughs over stiff images. For young dreamers, it's a reminder that joking about the future can spark real change.
